Elite Kenyan police unit goes on trial in the killing of a prominent Pakistani journalist last year

By EMMANUEL IGUNZA
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An elite Kenyan police unit has gone on trial on charges of wrongful death in the killing an outspoken Pakistani journalist in Nairobi a year ago. The hearings started on Tuesday at a court on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital. Arshad Sharif was killed Oct. 23, 2022, when the car he was in with another Pakistani man sped up and drove through a roadblock checkpoint and police opened fire. Nairobi police at the time said it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a similar car involved in a child abduction case. A team of Pakistani investigators later said Sharif’s killing was a “planned assassination.” Sharif’s widow and two Kenyan unions have filed the lawsuit.